First Light

Original Edition

De: Geoffrey Wellum

Narrado por: Andrew Brooke

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of First Light by Geoffrey Wellum, read by Andrew Brooke.

Two months before the outbreak of the Second World War, eighteen-year-old Geoffrey Wellum becomes a fighter pilot with the RAF...

Desperate to get in the air, he makes it through basic training to become the youngest Spitfire pilot in the prestigious 92 Squadron. Thrust into combat almost immediately, Wellum finds himself flying several sorties a day, caught up in terrifying dogfights with German Me 109s.

Over the coming months he and his fellow pilots play a crucial role in the Battle of Britain. But of the friends that take to the air alongside Wellum many never return.

©2018 Geoffrey Wellum (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

Vivid, wholly convincing, compelling. One of the best memoirs for years about the experience of flying in war (Max Hastings)

It took him 35 years to turn his notebooks into a narrative, and the result is a highly personal account of what it is like to face mortal combat, day and night, and what it does to a man who is barely more than a boy (Ben Macintyre)

Vivid and intense

Wellum's prose is sharp and clear. He recreates the desperate state of Britain in 1940 and the unparalleled thrill of flying Spitfires at 19 years old with the immediacy of a post-battle report and delicious detail that will satisfy any would-be fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain. Outstanding memoir!

The best aviation book I have ever read

Excellent narration and written extremely well. The perfect amount of nerd stuff for pilots and history buffs but still an easy listen, and it's even about Spitfires. 10/10

So much more than a book about a fighter pilot

I lowered the speed so I wouldn't miss a word. It was much less bravado and much more human

One of the best

I love memoirs in all wars, have listened to hundreds, this is right up there with the best.

One of the best

Highly recommended, one of the best raf / Battle of Britain books. Great narration added to this also.

Understated and Facinating account

Forget the over dramatized history Channel rubbish this is a straight and calm description of an astonishing young man in a tensely real moment in modern history.
Our self obsessed emoticon existances are really something of an embarrasment when compared to a voluntarily enlisted 19yr old fighter pilot in 1940.
Without a hint of hyperbole or self-ingratiation, this is a hellish adventure well told.

my first review

This book is so good I couldn't stop listening. Everywhere I could steal even 5 minutes out of my day I would. This book, although about what should be about a horrible situation (war) fills you with both joy and terror as we follow the WW2 pilot along his life up to age 22. It's amazing what can be achieved by such a young age. And a very interesting look into the life of England as the war started from his eyes. A must listen book. The narrator is also beyond good. I think I could listen to him read anything and I'd be happy!